WASHINGTON, D.C. (WordNew.org) Jan. 22, 2013 – Forty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court made abortion legal across the nation.

One pro-life group is commemorating the day by placing 3,300 flowers in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, one flower for each baby aborted each day.

“On the 40th Memorial of Roe v. Wade, our hearts break for the tragic loss of millions of innocent children and the diminishing of women through the violence of abortion,” said Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition.  “We are leaving these flowers to honor these children and say their lives have purpose, meaning and dignity. We are also standing with the women who have been wounded through abortion, and calling upon our nation to offer women in challenging pregnancies something better than abortion.”

Mahoney said the reelection of President Barack Obama disappointed many in the pro-life movement, but it as also “energized our movement in a powerful way and it is forcing us to work on a local and state level where our greatest strength has always been.”

Mahoney noted there are five states with only one abortion clinic: Arkansas, Mississippi, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota.

“And we will soon see America’s first abortion free state,” he said. “The simple reality is Roe v. Wade will most likely crumble, not through being overturned at the Supreme Court, but through the constant chipping away through local initiatives and state courts.

According to Planned Childhood Life, during the past 22 years, 1,500 abortion clinics – 70 percent overall– have closed. In 1991 there were 2,176 surgical abortion clinics nationwide; today there are 660 and falling.

Planned Childhood said in 2012, an average of seven abortion clinics closed each month.

“Abortion has been legal for 40 years this month, and 57 million babies have paid with their lives. While the pro-life movement has not ended all abortions yet, it has made some significant progress.” said Ken Brady, president of Planned Childhood Life.

The city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the largest city in the country to not have an abortion clinic. It has not had an abortion clinic for more than two decades after pro-lifers closed both clinics.

Planned Childhood cited a Chattanooga Times article dating back to 1995 that gave credit to pro-lifers’ role in the closure of the clinics. The article quoted a local doctor who used to do abortions saying: “I think the pro-lifers here have been very responsible. They have used political, economic and social pressure to push their agenda, not violence.”

Overall abortions are down 25 percent from 1.6 million in 1990 to 1.2 million since 2005.

Charles Wysong, president and founder  of American Rights Coalition, an organization that helps women who are having physical and emotional problems after abortion, said he has noticed “a steady decline in both clinics and abortions after we began helping injured women sue abortion clinics for malpractice in 1986.”

“Slowly, doctors began finding that while abortion may be legal, malpractice is not. This accountability caused many doctors to quit or never enter the abortion practice,” he said.

Cheryl Sullenger, senior Policy Advisor for Operation Rescue said, said there are several reasons for the decline, including malpractice lawsuits, health code violations, criminal prosecutions of either the abortionist or the clinic and disciplinary actions.

“When state officials discover how these clinics are being operated and how women are treated there, they have generally taken strong action and have closed many of them,” Sullenger said.

Priests for Life is launching today a new pro-life initiative, ExposeAbortion.com. The site is based on a basic principle of social reform as well as a basic Biblical exhortation.

“The project is simple: At ExposeAbortion.com, I will share with you one quote a day that exposes the horror of abortion,” said Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life. “It may be a quote from a past or current abortion provider or a court case or someone who has had an abortion or some other source. These short quotes will open people’s eyes, often make them gasp in horror, and enable them to awaken the consciences of their neighbors to what abortion really is.”

Pavone said ExposeAbortion.com is personal.

“The project is based on my conviction that a real debate on abortion hasn’t even begun in our nation, because the two sides often talk past each other,” he said. “Before discussing whether abortion is right or wrong or should be legal or illegal, we have to focus on what it is and what it does. Then we can be sure the opposing sides are discussing the same thing, and then the rest of the discussion can get started.”

“In social reform movements that uproot deeply embedded societal evils, the victim is always visualized. If we don’t see the victim, we don’t see the violence, and we are not moved to stop the violence,” Pavone added. “And in Scripture, we are told by St. Paul, ‘Have nothing to do with the fruitless works of darkness; rather, expose them!’”

Mahoney said  the message is clear on the 40^th “memorial” of Roe v. Wade.
“Our message is clear on the 40th Memorial of Roe. We will never rest or be silent until the violence of abortion ends and there is human rights and justice for all Americans,” he said.